CRAZE
by NymphaeaAlba
Summary: Take a bit of insanity and lots of silliness, throw some game characters in, then make everything as unrealistic as possible  and you get your average AU high school fanfic. And it's gonna be a ZackxCloud. There, you have been warned.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy.**

**Chapter one**

It was hot. It was far too hot.

And the early afternoon sun streaming right into the classroom made things even worse, even though all the windows were wide open to let the fresh air in. Cloud blinked tiredly into the bright light. He couldn't even see the blackboard properly - which was, thankfully, not really necessary today.

Everything his history class teacher had been doing so far was pacing up and down the classroom and talking about - well, something. Judging from the tone of her voice, perhaps something important... oh, right. There was something. Something about...something... or maybe something else... well, Cloud couldn't care less. All he could think about was this damn heat, and it confused him to no end that he seemed to be the only one on the verge of breaking down from heat-stroke; while the other students didn't seem too fond of today's temperatures either, they were at least not almost sprawled out on their desks. Oh god, he just wanted to get out of here. Or maybe die. Yes, that sounded like a great idea.

The first days of his new school year, Cloud mused, had been the worst, but it wasn't because he had moved to another town during summer holidays and had to accustom himself to a completely new environment. In fact, his new school was in almost every aspect more attractive than his previous one - the modern buildings maybe had a somewhat crazy architecture which made it difficult for freshmen and other newcomers to not get lost twenty times a day, but Cloud had a sense of orientation that was far above average.

The campus was large and picturesque, near the edge of the town and also, most importantly, near to his own new home. He didn't have to take the bus like many other students; he was able to get there by merely walking a few minutes.

There were actually some teachers here who were _not _above fifty (Up to now, Cloud hadn't known that you could be a teacher when still young) and were really able and willing to _teach_ - without using boring monologues _in every damn lesson_ (that they could even put the most attentive students to sleep with within moments). The result consisted in some of the kids actually wanting to _learn_ something, unlike the people he had been around last year who mostly cared about who could play the best pranks on teachers. Tests and exams had been hardly more than a bad joke. Here, it was refreshingly different (Apart from days like today maybe. Cloud could fully understand the wish to bolt outside where at least a light breeze was blowing; he didn't feel any different, after all. And he anyway had decided long ago that from now on, he would stay completely indifferent concerning everything that had to do with school.). So, that wasn't it.

It was not even having to get used to get up early again, or recovering from the horror of receiving a new timetable (Somehow, reading through new timetables always made you wish you still had your old one. For whatever reason.) So, it wasn't that either.

It had been the effort he had to bring up to finally convince his fellow students that he wasn't in the least interested in any of them. It had taken an awful lot of glaring and insulting - more than he had thought - until the last curious people had backed off. Hell, was it really so difficult to understand that he just wasn't social and sure as hell didn't want to be?! That he was just your average asshole who didn't care about company? He was fine on his own, thank you very much. And he didn't need these persistent fools who thought he just needed some persuasion... like that boy who was seated right behind him. Cloud shifted uncomfortably, trying not to think about the sturdy brunette who had just yesterday given up running after him; he always thought that he could feel him staring at his back. What a creepy kid - and if that wasn't enough, he was also gay. Cloud snorted in disgust. How _great_. He was sitting right in front of a _gay_. Could it get any worse? And shouldn't it be over soon?!

While the teacher rambled on, beginning to read out... something... which he wasn't at least interested in, mind you, but was suspiciously sounding like various names from some list, Cloud glanced at his watch. Four minutes left. Maybe he could survive another four minutes. Oh, and couldn't somebody just shut the sun down already?! You would think that there was enough heat in this town by now to last for the rest of the summer.

Three minutes left. If he didn't survive, then his gravestone, Cloud thought, should be kept simple. No silly shapes and ornaments, just plain, classical grey stone. And all he wanted on it was his name... and maybe, just maybe the dates of his birth and death - so that people could see what some lessons were doing to kids that they have to die at such a young age. And besides, he didn't want to cause his mother financial difficulties. It wasn't like there were many people who would visit his grave anyway, and he didn't think that it would matter to him. Why should it? He would be _dead_ by then, for crying out loud...

"... Cloud Strife." Wait - what? Did she just ask him something? Cloud looked up lazily and opened his mouth to ask what the question was again, but she just continued talking.

Well, whatever.

Just one minute left. Couldn't she just end this already?

"Any Questions?"

Not a single one. The only thing on his mind now was to get out of this building as quickly as possible, get home, take a _damn_ cold shower, grab a coke from the fridge and then finally concentrate on trying to forget about the superfluous heat for the rest of the day.

"Well, I suppose you all know what to do. No further homeworks than to start preparing your presentations, so good luck. In case of any uncertainties emerging - we will discuss that next time."

And at this very moment, the bell rang. Hallelujah.

The familiar chaos of students packing their stuff and practically running out of the classroom was music to Cloud's ears. He sighed in relief and picked up some splinters of wood which probably had been a pencil at the beginning of the lesson. He had been wondering where it had gone to...

"Hey... you."

Oh no. Not now. Cloud rolled his eyes before he turned around to... well, whoever decided to bother him when he was just getting ready to fly out of here.

Beside his desk stood a small blond girl looking at him... or to put it more precisely, glaring at him, and he couldn't help but being impressed. She was quite good at it. Almost as good as him... almost.

Cloud sighed heavily in an annoyed manner. "What do you want?!" Why couldn't people just leave him alone?

She narrowed her eyes a bit more. (What was her name again? He couldn't remember.) "Excuse me, Mr. Cloud I'm-too-cool-to-talk-to-you Strife, but as you may remember, it was just decided that we'll give a presentation... _together_."

Presentation? What exactly was she talking about? Oh, yeah... there was something. Something about the lesson on Tuesday that had greatly disturbed him... he could vaguely remember now. Presentations, sure. But it was almost three weeks until they had to be finished, and... oh, wait a minute. Weren't they supposed to be working in pairs?!

And finally it dawned on Cloud what exactly was going on, and he turned to look at the other blonde with more than just a bit of irritation. Oh, great. Just great - could his first week get any worse?!

"How come nobody asked me about this?" he grumbled, fairly disappointed with the way things were going. What exactly was the point anyway, having students working in pairs or groups? Usually they would just get in each others way, and in the end it all came down to one single person doing all the work (which had always been him so far, if he remembered correctly). And if he was to get the job done together with the fuming girl in front of him that he didn't even know, he was sure the whole thing would turn out being a complete disaster. Cloud could already smell the catastrophe.

His conversation partner was seething with rage by now. "Trust me, if anyone had asked _me_, I certainly wouldn't have _you, _of all people, as my partner," she hissed. "Mrs. Greene just went through the list and probably thought it extremely funny to have people put together that under normal circumstances wouldn't even _talk_ to each other. Jeez, did you pay _any_ attention _at all_?!"

Cloud rolled his eyes. This conversation was getting pretty boring – except, maybe, for the funny aspect that he could very well recognize himself in her. Now he knew why people always had reacted so... _piqued_ when he had tried to point out to them that they certainly wouldn't pass their exams by merely sitting around in class. Obviously, it hadn't been such a bad idea that he had decided to leave his old self completely behind.

However - Cloud just hoped she would just say what she had come over to say, and then stop ranting and leave him alone. He could think of better things to do than fighting with a stupid, moody chick. "It was too hot," he responded blankly and continued to gather his stuff.

The girl sighed, exasperated. "You are hopeless. So, how are we gonna do it? Since I already have plans for today and won't change them for you, I suggest we meet tomorrow after school at the library to at least make some plans. But you _certainly _have a better idea?!" She was glaring at her hardest, and Cloud met her stare with his own trademark glare.

"No, that's_ just_ fine with me." Actually, it was not, but apparently, they both had no choice.

"Well, I'm _glad_." And with that, the girl left in a huff and headed towards her desk, which was pretty much the only one still covered by various books and a writing pad. Apart from two or three students, who curiously had tried to listen to their conversation inconspicuously (and failing miserably at it), the rest had already made their way out of the classroom.

Cloud again rolled his eyes. So what, he could very well ask her right now instead of waiting for tomorrow. "Hey, what was your name again?"

She didn't even turn around to him as she jerked to a halt, probably fuming again - for a reason Cloud couldn't really decipher.

"It's Elena, you jerk. E-LE-NA!"

Okay. So Elena it was. Not that he minded, but alas, he had to work with her.

* * *

_Well then. Could somebody please explain to me what has gotten into me that I am starting to write... fanfiction?! I mean, come on, it's fanfiction, for heaven's sake! I never wrote fanfiction! I always thought I would stick with writing originals and be happy with it! Why am I writing fanfiction?!_

_Could somebody please shoot me?!_

_Okay, that's done.  
Anyway, here's the first chapter. (Uploaded even though I don't have a beta reader yet - so yeah.) _


	2. Chapter 2

_Note: Still writing fanfiction. Still no beta reader. Still don't own Final Fantasy._

_Oh, whatever..._

* * *

"So, anything special planned for today?" 

The question was asked in a cheerful and happy tone, its owner seemingly not too much affected by the summer temperatures.

"Nothing much, really." The possessor of the second voice appeared to be a bit more down-to-earth, but probably sounded a little bit _too_ relaxed and laid-back to be taken seriously. "It's too warm to do any homework today, so I suggest we just hang around a bit. We can decide about the details later, but first let's get some ice-cream; otherwise I won't survive the next two hours. Jeez, I just can't stand sitting around in class rooms all day. How can they lock us in there when it's such a great weather today?! Are these people even _human_?!"

A snicker was heard. "Aw, poor Reno. But it will continue like this for another few weeks. Get used to it, vacation is over."

"But there's always winter vacation... in... how many days again?" Reno's face lit up as he pulled out a pocked diary from seemingly nowhere and happily leaned back against an oak tree. "I guess I'll start counting the hours in two or three weeks or so..."

A quiet laugh. "You are impossible, but that's fine with me."

Now it was Reno's turn to snicker. "I know. The crazier people act, the more you like them. I have it all figured out, Zack."

Zack just quirked an eyebrow and grinned, not replying. Comfortably stretched out in the shadow of the oak tree, he lazily gazed towards the other end of the campus. From here, he could even see the sports fields and watch various students gathering for after school activities.

"How foolish," he murmured. "These dumb guys are all going to die, running around in the open when the sun's burning like that."

"Be thankful then that we're two sensible and intelligent guys who know when to just lie back and enjoy the day – other than these sports freaks and other show-offs over there," Reno laughed.

"Hey, some of these "show-offs" happen to be my friends." Zack threw a pen at Reno and missed.

"But don't you also think that we are damn lucky guys? Not having to move a muscle, but still looking hot," Reno chirped and grinned self-satisfied.

"I can't believe you are being that modest today," Zack scoffed. "What happened, did someone hit you over the head with a baseball bat?!"

"Eh, don't worry, school jus' began a few days ago. I need a bit more practise, that's all..."

The two boys had made themselves comfortable on one of the various little lawns the school grounds had to offer. Their hiding place was carefully chosen, a bit aside from the most crowded areas of the school, almost hidden as it was encircled by some thick bushes, trees and a low brick wall. Basically, they could see almost everything that was going on from here, but could in return hardly be seen by anyone, if one didn't exactly know that this spot almost precisely between the school gates and the parking lot served as a makeshift den for a couple of students.

After a minute, Reno couldn't stand being quiet anymore and broke the comfortable silence. "Hey, what exactly happened to your groupies today? Forgot them this time, or did they finally grow up, grew brains and in an instant lost interest?" he asked somewhat mockingly.

Zack grinned, closing his eyes. "Lost them somewhere near the cafeteria. Quite a relief. I mean, not that I don't enjoy being the center of attention..."

"I'd be seriously worried about you now if you said anything else," Reno scoffed.

"...but sometimes a normal human being just wants some time off without _anyone_ to bother them," Zack finished, ignoring his friend's comment.

Reno poked him in the ribs. "Zack, you are no normal human being. Besides, you haven't gotten rid of _me_ yet. How do you plan to do that?" He looked genuinely curious.

Zack cracked one eye open. "You know, this is the part where you are supposed to act really offended and pouty and so on."

"Well, I do not. I'm used to people wanting to get rid of me. You, of course, are not familiar with such a thing. So, answer me."

"Whatever. Maybe I just meant that sometimes I like to spend my time with the people I want to."

Reno gave a sudden yell and scuttled a few feet away from Zack hurriedly, pretending to be scared to death. But he couldn't keep the act for long and laughed. "Gods, you need to practise a bit more. Really, Zack, this was just _bad_. Never _ever _talk to people like that. If I was any other person in the world, I would have run without ever stopping until I had reached at least another _continent_..."

"I hope for your own sake, then, that you have the ability to grow gills in record time." Zack flashed him a grin. "And to save my reputation - the girls like that line. And some of the boys, too..."

"Only because most of the poor creatures are blind with their affection for you and just don't realize what a playboy you can be if getting too high-spirited."

The two boys turned their heads in the direction the gentle voice had come from to look at the girl who had just arrived without them noticing.

"Aeris...? Aeris!" Zack sat up, beaming. "You joining us today?"

"To put up with _you_?" She smiled as she swung her legs over the wall and crouched down beside them. "Don't get your hopes up, I just came over to say bye - I'm heading straight to town with Rachel, if you really have to know." She pointed over her shoulder, where her friend was waiting patiently near the gates. "And you are _not_ invited."

"Mean." Zack pouted.

Aeris laughed softly. "By the way, what has happened to the trio of doom? Where is Elena? Did she get sick of you two eventually? I have to offer her my congratulations for becoming sensible." She smiled impishly.

"She should be here soon," Reno answered, gracefully ignoring the last remark. "Her last period was World History, it might have taken a little longer due to some stuff about a class project - or so she told me."

"Well." The pretty girl stood up again. "See you tomorrow, then."

They said their goodbyes, and Aeris headed back to her friend.

"Okay. So, where _is_ Elena?" Zack asked when the two girls had disappeared out of view. "We've been waiting for quite some time now. What was that with the project thing?"

"Oh, that..." Reno shrugged. "She was not entirely happy with that. Apparently, some teacher had the funny idea of making them give a presentation about some stuff – I think it was the second world war."

"That early in the school year?" Zack grinned. "Poor Elena - I guess we'll have to cheer her up."

"I think you are right." Renos voice sounded a bit alarmed. He had scrambled over to the wall to peer over the edge. "There she comes, and she doesn't look too happy, if you ask me."

Zack looked over his friend's shoulder to see an obviously seething Elena approaching them, and he just couldn't imagine that this rage was the result of only a completely boring homework. Not with other students shying away from her after they had catched the look on her face.

"I don't want to be at the receiving end of her anger right now," he remarked in a rather amused tone.

Reno frowned. "Me neither."

* * *

"_Don't_ talk to me." Elena hissed as she slumped down beside Reno, folding her arms. 

Reno raised an eyebrow. "That bad?"

Elena hissed some more. "It couldn't be worse."

"Jeez, I know that World History is the most boring class ever, but I thought you were quite good at it. What can there be that makes you...?"

"It's not about that. Did I already tell you that I have to work with a partner on this?!"

"I like working with partners," Zack piped up. "Even more in groups. You can leave the whole stuff to other people and just relax."

Reno and Elena both shot him a quite irritated look. "Maybe it works that way for _you,_" Reno snapped.

"Hey, don't take everything so serious." Grinning, Zack held his hands up in defeat. "Just kidding."

"The day _you_ start taking things seriously will be the one I'll mark in my calendar." Elena wasn't ready to just leave the subject. "Just in case you haven't noticed - this is your graduation year."

Reno rolled his eyes. "Oh. My. God. We're not even fully into the first semester and she already starts talking about Zack's _graduation_. I wonder what it's going to be like for me next year. She'll probably run after me the whole day to ask me whether I have done my homework yet and that I better should start studying for the final exams during _summer vacation_, or else I'll have no chance at all, or something like that."

And, before Elena had a chance to respond to this, he went on: "Come on, don't be childish. Is there really nobody in your class you would like to work with?!"

Elena looked ready to explode again. "Oh, don't worry, there are quite a few people. Let me correct that, there _would_ be quite a few people, if we were at least to choose our partner!"

And after that, she finally started spluttering what was bothering her. Zack and Reno weren't always sure what exactly she was talking about, but eventually she felt certain that her friends were finally convinced of the fact that she had to be the most miserable human being on Gods earth - and stopped for breath.

"Er...so..." Reno began slowly. "You are disgruntled, because you have to work out your presentation with some person you don't know, right? And that same person also happens to be a guy and, in addition, is some new kid who doesn't really care to assimilate himself? Did I understand all that correctly?"

Elena snorted. "That's an understatement. I swear, that jerk think's he's something better. Didn't talk to one single person in our grade other than throw insults at them that I didn't even hear from Reno yet, scared everyone away who tried to socialize with him, he doesn't pay any attention, hell, he didn't even realize we were assigned together until I informed him about it, and he looks at us, like... well, generally he's trying to stare us to death, actually. In short, he's an asshole." She seemed to have calmed down a bit, since she stopped glaring daggers now.

Reno raised an eyebrow. "You should watch your language, too, you know..."

"Please _what_?!" Elena exploded in a sudden outburst of revived fury. "Dammit, Reno, stop pretending already that you're in any position to tell me what and what not to do!"

Reno folded his arms and sulked. "Well, someone apparently has to. I mean, jus' look at yourself! You been wearing that all day or what?!"

Elena looked at her clothing and then back at Reno, an expression on her face as if she seriously doubted Reno's sanity now. "Erm... Reno... that is a skirt," She told him flatly. "You know, these things that girls wear when it gets kinda warm outside."

"Oh really? You call that a skirt? Are you even allowed to show yourself like that in school?!"

"It's almost knee-length, for heaven's sake!"

"Yes, if barely-more-than-a-belt is the new knee-length, then _indeed it is_!"

"Reno, you are not my _mother_!"

"But I am... "

"Hey, quit it, you two," Zack intervened, chuckling. "Really, can't you just spend two minutes in each other's presence without bickering about something – for once?!"

Surprisingly enough, both Reno and Elena turned to look at him. Zack seemed thoughtful for a moment, then his face lit up. "Hey, maybe that guy of yours is just shy, Elena. How would you know if you don't really know him?!"

"Oh, but _of course,_" she responded dryly. "I can see what you mean. This whole nasty and vicious behaviour, all the death threats, hell, _of course_ he's just shy, why didn't I think of that?! If only he would talk civilly just every now and then, so that it was actually _possible_ to get to know him, then I wouldn't have drawn false conclusions in the first place!" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm, but Zack didn't seem to notice.

"See?" he beamed. "Now is the opportunity! You have to work on a school assignment together, he _has_ to talk to you! Isn't that just _great_?!"

"Wow, Zack, you are so intelligent and wise! How did you know that this was what I always wanted?! - _Dammit,__Zack_!" Elena slowly went angry again. "This will sound infantile now, but: _I don't want to_! Besides, that guy actually creeps me out." She slumped back against the wall and folded her arms over her chest again. "I really thought I would just dissolve when he gave me that death glare before – and jeez, I was just trying to help."

"He's antisocial...doesn't care about school... he's scary... is able to make even Elena afraid of him..." Zack murmured, more to himself than to anyone else.

"Forget it." Elena gave him a light punch to the shoulder. "I know you like to associate with the weirdest people at times, but in this case... just forget it." She sounded serious. "There is this boy in my grade who is just as persistent as you, this Robert guy, I told you about him. In the first days, he was determined to get some words out of him that you can also find in a dictionary, and at first he just got the usual glares and insults that everyone who came close to him had to deal with. And then..."

"And then he found Cloud's weak spot and they became great friends?" Zack's voice didn't sound too hopeful. More like someone just snatched his candy away.

"... and then," Elena went on, "... he found out about Robert's... well, sexual preferences. I don't really know what happened at their next encounter, he wouldn't tell, but the poor guy was nearly crying afterwards..."

"I thought he has learned to deal with stupid people." Reno frowned.

Elena narrowed her eyes. "But not with _him_."

"Could always be that your Cloud person just interpreted Robert's efforts a bit wrong and just got scared!" Zack offered enthusiastically. "Hell, maybe Robert really _did_ hit on him! Maybe that whole thing's just a misunderstanding! – Or maybe Cloud is just a homophobic jerk," he added, shrugging. "Difficult to tell, sometimes. But we shouldn't judge him just yet..."

"Zack, _please_." Elena seemed to get tired of the whole conversation. "It's not bad that you always want to see the good in people, really, but you can overdo everything. Besides, Robert already has a boyfriend. There's no reason whatsoever that he should have any interest in a person like _Cloud_." She sighed. "Except that, for some reaon, the girls all swoon over him," she admitted reluctantly. "And just because he is somewhat good-looking. Dumbass doesn't even realize it. As if they're not worth being noticed by him... as if they are lower beings than him, or something. How I _hate_ people like that!"

"Zack, what exactly are you doing there?" Reno suddenly said, cutting her off.

Zack, who had been scribbling into a small notebook while Elena talked, looked up with a slightly guilty expression.

"Eh..." he scratched his head, "...just completing my list on him. Added "homophobic" and "probably crush of the whole tenth grade". That fellow's getting quite interesting."

"Great. It actually happened," Elena stated in a monotone tone of voice. "He's gotten completely mad. This is all your fault, Reno."

"Why mine?! Why is it always me?" Reno complained. "Now, come on. There _are_ a few things that will make it worthwhile spending your time with Cloud, don't you realize?"

"Well, I would like to know." Elena snatched the notebook from Zack's hands, ripped out the paper he had been writing on and busied herself with shredding it to tiny little frazzles furiously.

Reno grinned. "I mean, just think about how all the other girls will _envy_ you about this! I bet they would just _die_ to be at your place! And they _all_ will want to talk to you and will want to hear _every tiny detail_ that you'll find out about him..."

"God help me!" Elena shrieked, and Reno snickered and playfully elbowed her into the side. "And seriously, can all the girls in your grade be that wrong? Or are you the only one with proper eyesight? Come on, I wanna know! Is he really...?" He sounded curious now.

Elena just rolled her eyes. "Okay, so he _is_ kinda cute..."

"Aha!" satisfied with the answer, Reno peeked over the wall to look over to the main entrance, where the stream of students leaving the school building had lessened somewhat. "Is he already gone, or ist there a chance that we get to look at your new co-worker?"

"He's one of those who always seem to be in a hurry, but he also takes ages at his locker, should be still in there," said Elena while watching Zack, who had begun gathering the small pieces of paper with a look on his face as if he had just found out that he'd been dumped by the love of his live. "You killed it!" she heard him wail.

Elena sighed and turned around to look outside their little hideout as well. "You will find it hard to miss him," she told a curious Reno. "Just look out for the most outrageous hairstyle. Not even you guys can keep up with that."

"If that really is the case, I will have no choice but to declare him my new arch-enemy," Reno said, dangerously narrowing his eyes. "How _dare_ he?!"

Elena sighed once more. "You know, sometimes I ask myself why I even bother to try and beat some sense into you."

"Because you are my precious little sister, of course!"

"Your precious little _step_sister, if you please," Elena corrected and then pointed with her chin to a certain person just leaving the building with quick steps. "Over there! See him? Baggy pants, red t-shirt, blond spikes and a face as if he had to listen to you gossiping about the last party you attended."

"What, that small kid over there is actually able to give you the creeps?! But you're right, he really _is_ hard to miss!" Reno snickered. "Damn, I just have to know which hair gel he uses! Hey, Elena - you think he will...?"

"I don't think so, Reno."

"Hey, quit talking about his hair already!" Zack called from his spot where he had sprawled out on the grass again. "I wanna hear about his cuteness factor!"

"Well," Reno answered dryly, "Since I am neither a girl nor gay, I can't really tell, you know. Why don't you come over and see for yourself?!"

"What a shame... really, nowadays, I have to do just everything by myself," Zack complained before he joined his friends at the wall. He quickly was able to spot the blond spikes that Elena had mentioned, standing up in every possible direction. He whistled in astonishment. "Jeez, that guy _is_ cute!" He stared for a few moments and then turned to give Elena an unbelieving look. "Gods, Laney, I can't believe you are throwing such a hissy fit! That fellow is positively gorgeous, you are the luckiest girl in the world!"

"Really...?" Elena stood up to lean against the tree trunk with a shoulder, placing a hand on her hip. She made a face. "Not everybody is shallow like you, Zack. I don't _care_ what people look like."

"He could just rival me as the hottest guy in school," Zack mused, ignoring the girl. When Reno gave him a raised eyebrow, he just grinned sheepishly. "Why, with you being the second hottest, of course."

Reno shook his head in response.

"Wonder why he's glaring like that, though," Zack chattered on, directing his gaze once more to the male student who quickly made his way to the gates, passing the groups of students without looking at them and not noticing the looks he got from most of the girls, hands buried in his pockets and his gaze lowered, with some blond bangs falling into his face. "Eh, it must be his name," he gave the answer, before Reno or Elena could say something. "If my parents had named me Cloud, I would also be grumpy twenty-four-seven. But since I am a lucky guy to have such a cool name like Zack..."

"Why are we even still hanging around here?" Elena cut him off, deciding to leave this topic at least for today. "If I don't get something freezingly cold in the next thirty minutes, I'm going to be seriously upset. And trust me, you don't want that."

Neither of the boys doubted a word she was saying.

"Yeah, let's go!" Zack jumped to his feet.

"Let's forget that little troublemaker and head to town," Reno agreed.

Just when Elena sighed in relief, Zack made another observation. "Hey, Laney, maybe we should invite that crazy guy of yours along," he chuckled. "He looks like he needs a bit of ice-cream as well. I think he will break down in a minute or so."

Elena didn't even pay attention to his outstretched finger. "Always looks that way," she shrugged it off. "I don't know exactly where he's from - in fact, nobody knows - but it must be Alaska or something. Or Greenland."

"See, that could be another reason for him to be so strange! Just imagine what it must be like when you're..."

"Zack, just _quit it_."

"...Whatever."

* * *

"When exactly are you two meeting for the first time?" Reno asked Elena when they left the school grounds after making sure that Cloud was nowhere in sight anymore. 

"Tomorrow, library," she answered curtly.

Reno frowned. "Aw, not the library. But anyways," he went on, "...actually I wanted to spend my free time somewhere else, since it's friday tomorrow, but in this case," he slung one of his arms around Elenas shoulders compassionately, "I think I'll just stick around to cheer you up. Or maybe just drop in once to say hello. And, who knows", he added as an afterthought, "Maybe it's better that way. The library can quite deserted at times, and if this Cloud person is really someone you better keep away from..."

"You know," Elena said, demonstratively removing his arm from her shoulders, "I can take care of myself. I'm turning sixteen, remember?!"

"Yes. In _March_."

"Forget it, Elena," Zack chirped, merrily skipping along. "If he says he's going to drop in, then he will drop in. Hell, maybe I'll even join him to get a closer look at this Cloud. And," he took two quick steps to stand in front of them, looking suddenly very stern and serious, "...if that guy is proving to be any trouble," he had lowered his voice to a dangerous growl, "Then _he's_ going to be the one in trouble."

* * *

_Okay, that's that... and with another one or two chapters, I'll may have already something close to an exposition. Yay me, I may be getting somewhere.  
_


	3. Chapter 3

_Erm... yes. Just another chapter. I guess we all know by now that I __don't own Final Fantasy. _

* * *

The next day was a friday. To Elena, a friday normally basically meant that she had to move more carefully in the corridors after school. People were always so... so... _overly enthusiastic _at fridays, and it already had happened more than once that she had been knocked over by some jerk that was either too nearsighted or to stupid to be aware of his path being blocked by a tiny blonde. 

Or maybe they _were _aware of her presence, and did it just because they could. What made it worse was that no one ever seemed to have just a few moments to spare to even _apologize _afterwards. Oh well, maybe they just didn't notice that they had collided with someone...

And that Reno and Zack, if they happened to be around, usually were after them in an instant to give them a piece of their mind, wasn't any help at all. She didn't _need_ some wannabe-bodyguards to watch over her, Elena thought grumpily. Although she had to give them some credit, if she was honest. So far, it had never happened that the same airhead had stomped all over her _twice_.

Okay. Whatever. But in _this_ case? _Really_.

"You sure you don't need us?," Reno asked for the umpteenth time, as they were walking down the hall which led to the main entrance. Elena was already fuming by then.

"Reno." She gritted her teeth and forced herself to speak calm. "He is just a guy in my class whom I need to work on a damn homework with. He is almost smaller than _me,_ and apart from being the biggest jerk I have ever seen besides you, he is just a normal kid like everyone else here. What could he probably be up to, hm?"

Reno shrugged and crossed his arms. "Better a bit too careful than too careless." He looked down at Elena skeptically. "Apropos, are you wearing this to spite me? And I hope you _are_ aware of the fact that skirts like these attract very, _very_ much attention? The attention of sometimes very, _very _strange guys?!"

"Reno, first of all, it's summer – if you haven't noticed. Secondly – if I am not seriously mistaken, then I think you are one of the strangest guys out of the "strange guys"." Elena raised an eyebrow mockingly. "If it's the other girls, you never complain. On the contrary. Stop being hypocritical, okay?"

Reno pouted. "Just don't want these nasty guys that run around looking at you like that lad today in lunch break..."

"He is a _friend_. And he was _talking_ to me. And there was _no_ reason for you to act as if he had groped me."

"So? And here I thought that people normally look into each other's _faces_ when _talking_ – must've been mistaken. Hey, be glad that Zack wasn't there. The way I know him, he would've... wait a moment." Reno uncrossed his arms and looked around. "Speaking of him, I wonder where he can be. Ah, he'll probably jump out of nowhere within the next two minutes to claim he first had to forget his fanclub somewhere," he reminded himself.

"Do me a favour and tell him to_ not__follow me,_" Elena spat and quickened her pace, leaving Reno behind.

"Er... okay, I'll try," Reno called after her. "But I can't promise anything! You know he's a bit overprotective at times!"

Elena snorted. "Look who's talking."

* * *

When Cloud, feeling quite dehydrated, finally arrived at the heavy wooden library doors, Elena was already there, staring at him almost expressionless. She said no word, and Cloud was grateful for that. Hopefully it would stay that way. He couldn't stand a girl talking right now - not after all the hours of silly chattering and high-pitched giggling he had to endure every day. He could be mistaken, of course, but he always seemed to be in the center of the area where these ear-piercing sounds were the worst. He must have an inner radar for it or something - if only he knew how to turn that damn thing off. Even in the hallways he never was out of earshot of those sickening high voices, as if the girls were actually _following_ him. And did he not catch a glimpse of pink today – several times, in fact?! 

His imagination was really running wild at times, and it certainly didn't do anything good for his mood.

Anyway, if Elena was expecting him to say something first, she was disappointed. He merely spared her a glance and then pushed past her, entering the library with a sigh of relief. He really had nothing against the library. In fact, he rather liked it, and not only because it was by far the most peaceful place in school.

For once, it was several degrees cooler in here than in most other buildings, and since it was summer time, almost never crowded. On days like these, there was hardly anyone busy in here longer than was really necessary; it was almost the only place where he was safe from those annoying high-pitched voices, and if groups of pink-clad girls happened to come in, then the arrangement of the furniture offered enough protection to easily hide somewhere in a corner behind some bookshelves and sit quietly with a book without being seen or disturbed. Cloud actually spent most of the lunch breaks in here, since he didn't like the crowded cafeteria - too many people. _Way_ too many people.

However, today, his favourite place at school was less peaceful. Hardly had he stepped onto the red-carpeted floors, Elena stormed in behind him, and she certainly did not make extra efforts to be quiet. "A simple "hello" wouldn't hurt you, you know," she fumed.

And there went the cherished, holy quietness of the library. Cloud sighed, exasperated, and decided to face her. "We are supposed to work here, not bitch at each other like some childish, menstruating drama queens," he told Elena, turning around and giving her his best death glare.

When Elena just gaped at him with a horrified expression, he considered his task done - at least for the next few minutes - and made his way to the computers. Not that he didn't already know where to find the right books, but he was used to pretend he was a bit more dense than he actually was; with the right people, it sometimes helped.

After a few steps, Cloud glanced back for a moment; Elena seemed to be fighting with herself. At first, it looked like she was ready to run after him and strangle him right then and there, and he couldn't even blame her. But she restrained herself quite well. After a few seconds of looking down to the floor, her fists clenching and unclenching, and muttering something over and over again - which Cloud couldn't understand from where he stood - she sighed and straightened up, shooting the librarian, who had watched the little scene with mild interest, a dark look and moved into the opposite direction.

Cloud shrugged. Whatever.

When he came back from a little journey through the first floor, almost a dozen books in his arms, he found her dropping her belongings onto one of the tables. Not in one of the quiet, hidden corners he preferred, but not either right in the open middle of the first floor that could be watched from everywhere. With a sigh, he forced himself to walk over to her.

"I brought some books," he said matter-of-factly, unceremoniously dropping them onto the table top.

Elena directed a mocking glare at him, an eyebrow quirked. "Oh dear, so you can talk civilly after all. Just why didn't you tell me earlier, and what are you going to do next? Prove that you are actually human?! Would you please warn me beforehand, so that I can psyche myself up for it and won't faint right on the spot?!"

Apparently, Cloud thought, she was still angry at him for what he said earlier. Or he was right, and she was nothing but a moody girl during her menstruation days. He almost smirked at that thought, but suppressed it in the last moment.

Elena, however, was quite a good observer and had caught that little twitch around the corners of his mouth, and it disturbed her more than anything he could have said.

Cloud sighed. As it was, they both were behaving quite childish right now. He knew it, but at the same time he couldn't bring himself to let his reasonable side take over. He was... offended. There were so many things he could be doing right now. _Important_ things, like maybe slouching about in front of the TV - or internet surfing. Or playing on the keyboard. Or reading a book. Instead, he was here, with this girl... what was her name? Oh yes, Elena – and he just felt sorry for himself. Maybe it had been a bad decision to just let it out on her – it wasn't really like him – but he had to admit to himself that he felt a lot better by not suppressing his anger. It was _easier _than being sensible. And besides, Elena was doing just the same. Cloud dreaded the next few weeks. It wouldn't work with them, he had known it from the very first minute. One of them acting like a five-year-old would be bad enough, but both of them?!

And yet, Cloud refused to listen to his intellect. Maybe tomorrow. Or the day after tomorrow. Or next week. Whatever. And maybe Elena would come to her senses before him, and...

Oh, this was just great. Now he was actually trying to justify his own behaviour in front of... _himself_. This was so foolish. Antipathy was no excuse – not in this situation. It was aout school, dammit. Surely, as an almost-grown-up, he should be able to forget his personal feelings and stupid behaviour patterns for a while and just _do his damn work_?!

Sighing heavily, he rolled his eyes, sent a quick pray to heaven and turned around to Elena.

"Listen," he began, suddenly feeling insecure, "maybe we should..."

But he was interrupted.

"Hey guys, what's up?!"

The loud and cheerful shout sadfully couldn't be directed at anyone else besides them, since they still were the only ones who were stupid enough to spend their free time in the library while everyone else was going swimming.

Cloud gritted his teeth. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be. There couldn't be one more annoying person in this room. It was just not _possible_. It was friday, for crying out loud! He turned around, irritated, to see who else wasn't right in their mind today, and noticed out of the corner of his eye that Elena did the same, and wasn't any less surprised than him to see the crazy figure walking up to them: Redheaded, tall, lanky, with a grin that couldn't be described with another word as _mad_. The most striking feature of that boy (Cloud was quite sure he hadn't seen him before) was the gravity-defying hair, and he was willing to bet ten points of his IQ that the crimson red _wasn't_ it's natural colour.

Automatically, his hand went to touch his own bangs which for the love of god just wouldn't let themselves be tamed, no matter how much he tried to get them to lie flat - instead of making him look like a hedgehog which had tried to drown itself in a bucket of yellow paint. He wasn't exactly happy the way his spikes were sticking out in every possible and impossible direction, drawing more attention to him than he deemed necessary.

It filled Cloud with something almost like enthusiasm when he noticed that Elena and him shared the same opinion for once: they were genuinely pissed at the intruder.

"Just what exactly do you think you're doing?!" Elena hissed at him as soon as he slumped down on a chair at their table as if it was self-evident he was here and didn't really get why the other two were that surprised.

The boy, who couldn't be much older than them, just smirked a little wider. "I told you I would tag along." Then, as if the matter was cleared, he gazed across the table to stare shamelessly curiously at Cloud, who was still standing frozen in place.

Elena looked ready to burst in flames. "Yes, and _I_ told you _not_ to!"

"Erm... excuse me, but... no. You didn't," The readhead responded happily, still looking the blonde over as if he had just discovered a most interesting new species. Cloud began to feel just a bit uncomfortable. "You told me to tell Zack not to come, but didn't include me in that. And I _did_ tell Zack, before you ask. The question is," if it was possible, he grinned even wider by now, "...whether he listens to me. I doubt that, if I'm honest." He cocked his head to one side and continued to eye Elena's classmate. Then he leaned over the table with a sudden movement that made Cloud flinch, and stared wide-eyed at him. "Say, that's an interesting hair-style you've got. Care to tell me how you do that?"

Elena groaned and buried her face in her hands. When she looked up again, she was met with one of Clouds more... intimidating glares. Obviously, he was waiting for an explanation. A good one.

She slumped her shoulders, giving up. "If I may introduce: Reno, pain in the neck by profession and the reason why nobody dares to ask me out anymore – oh, like that will interest you. Sorry, but you'll have to put up with him," she stated tonelessly.

"I'm her brother," Reno added proudly.

"My _step_brother," Elena corrected.

Cloud looked at both of them with an expression that looked horribly like he was mocking them. "Really? Wow, you have to keep telling people that. Judging by the outward appearance, I would have been convinced that you were at least twins."

"Oh, just shut up, you moron." Elena slumped down beside Reno, glaring at him. "Be at least quiet, if you really have to sit here," she instructed firmly.

Reno, utterly relaxed despite of the obvious tension between the three of them, leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head. "Oh, I can be as quiet as you want me to be," he drawled lazily, "but I don't really know whether I can convince _him_ to be quiet," and with a wink, he directed his eyes to the library doors which could be heard to be pushed open one or two seconds _after_ his statement.

* * *

Even bevore the new arrival came into sight, Cloud had a strange feeling, something that he struggled to grasp, but couldn't - until a tall, raven-haired boy appeared in their part of the library, spotting them quickly and walking over to them with long strides. Once he was in sight, there was no mistaking as to where this sudden change in the atmosphere had come from. 

Cloud could only stare.

That guy had a bright gleam in his violet eyes, and he radiated cheerfulness and carelessness with an intensity that the whole room suddenly seemed to lit up. It was very seldom that Cloud had seen someone with such an amazing charisma like that, which practically overwhelmed you just by _looking_ at that damned person, combined with such a dazzling smile.

Cloud was sure he was also friendly by nature. Oh yes, there were definetely very few people who were able to resist this boy, at least if they weren't used to that damn emanation. How _great_. He could just hope that this aura wouldn't affect him as well. Things like that could end very embarrassing...

"_Zack Fair_. Just why?!" Elena wailed when he approached them, but her voice was completely swallowed by his.

"Sorry for being late, guys, but I just _had_ to organize something before I came here. Couldn't risk us all to die with thirst, could I?!" And with that, the next disturbing person rushed to their table to bother them, and if Cloud didn't know any better, he would have sworn this spiky-haired Zack guy wanted to actually _sit down_ with them like that strange redhead had done.

Which was exactly what he did, seating himself at Elena's other side and at once, mimicking Renos curious glance from before. Even if this time, it was a lot more... _intense_. Cloud couldn't describe it any other way. This Zack whatever-his-surname-was-again looked as if he wanted to suck in every detail of him, and it didn't exactly put him in high spirits. Almost squirming in discomfort, now being looked over by both boys as if he was a red and yellow checkered squirrel they had just found in their lunchbox, he did his best to maintain his trademark glare, all intentions of trying to be likeable forgotten.

"Can we start now," Well, at least he had found his voice again, "Or do we have to wait up for the whole school to follow these morons first?!"

He couldn't help it, but he thought there was something odd about the three of them sitting across from him... or rather, about the way this guys - Reno and Zack - were sitting on either of Elenas side, a bit closer than was necessary, just as... hell, just as if they wanted to _protect_ her from him or something. Something about this amused him so much that for the second time in just five minutes, he had to suppress a smirk. If it was this why they were here - he could live with that. It would have been worse if they were bothering them because they were actually... wanted to get to _know_ him. But this was okay. Apart, of course, from the fact that they were annoying.

Slowly, he placed his feet on the table, leaned back comfortably and lifted his head to point with his chin at Zack. "That another brother of yours?" There was no way to miss the sarcasm in his voice.

"_Step_brother," Elena corrected automatically, "And no, he isn't."

"And the rest of the school is already gone to buy ice-cream, and since it's not allowed to bring this stuff in here, we're rather safe, I suppose," said Zack, not at all being intimidated or at least offended by Clouds behaviour, which only confused him more. "I managed to smuggle this in, though," Zack happily went on and began to forage in his backpack to pull a few tin cans out of it. "I think a coke after school is the best way to start the real day, don't you think?" He pushed the cans over the table to the others, surprisingly first at Cloud, chirping "There, you look like you need one," and then to Elena and Reno.

Cloud just stared at it suspiciously. Everything in him screamed to just take it and swallow its contents in one gulp, since he had emptied the soda he had brought with him almost two hours ago and felt as if his tongue was beginning to turn to dust. But accepting something from Zack would mean accepting _him_, and he sure as hell couldn't do that. Gathering all his strength, Cloud scowled at him and didn't move an inch, keeping his twitching hands intertwined together in his lap.

"Oh c'mon, I promise it isn't poisoned." Zack smiled warmly at him, and Cloud couldn't really decide whether to be confused, furious, or afraid, or everything at once. This was _not_ how he had expected things to happen. So far, everything had always worked out, but now this Zack was _smiling _pleasantly at him, as if something that Cloud had done in the last thirty seconds had convinced him that he wouldn't... _kidnap_ Elena, or whatever these idiots had thought he would be doing. They were acting way too friendly, and if Zack continued being all smiles like this, Cloud was afraid he would smile back in reflex.

"Not thirsty," Cloud responded stubbornly, but he had the strange feeling that the lie was more than obvious. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw the way the others stared at him disparagingly, but he didn't care about being convincing right now. He just wanted this whole ridiculous situation to be over, so he turned once more to Elena. "Could we finally begin now, so that we all can get out of here as quickly as possible?!"

Zack turned to Elena as well, raising his eyebrows. "Jeez, he always like that?" He was grinning now and didn't sound exactly solemn.

Elena had long ago resigned, slumping back in her seat to sulk and not touching her coke either. But now she snapped out of it to scoff at her friend. "Tsk, what do you _think_? It's not _that_ bad. Today, he has so far only ignored me and called me a childish and menstruating drama queen."

"Both at once?" Zack sounded curious when Cloud had expected him to take things a bit more seriously now, maybe even treating him in a disapproving manner; after all, he had insulted Elena, who was obviously a good friend. But it was Reno who narrowed his eyes, growling, while Zack just eyeballed him, smirking at him amusedly – as if he knew something that he, Cloud, didn't. He was getting weirder with every passing minute.

Elena didn't seem to notice; she seemed to be well accustomed to the boy's antics and merely groaned at his question as if it was something she had expected.

Zack didn't pay attention to it and once again rummaged in his backpack. To Cloud's surprise, he pulled out a small, red notebook and a pen, wearing a triumphant grin as if he had a gold bar in his hands instead of a piece of a dead tree.

Elena shrugged and finally leaned over the table to hand Cloud a sheet of paper. "There's the tasks we'll have to do. You prefer any of these?"

Cloud glanced at it with an indifferent expression. You could have foreseen what the questions would be; it was what you expected when having to work on this topic. He had even done some of it last year in his old High School. "No," he said with a sounding rather uninterested. "I don't care. You choose."

"_Fine_," Elena said through gritted teeth, "Then how about I just take the first half and you the second, to save us from long discussions?!"

"There's no need for any discussion about this." Again, Cloud looked at the questions to memorize the tasks that were just declared as his in no time. So, perhaps he was bad at remembering names and things like that, but when it came to texts, there was no one who could beat him. Immediately, Cloud began to go through the books that had, until now, been lying in a heap on the table, unnoticed.

While Zack blithely scribbled something down(much to Cloud's irritation; and why was that guy always looking up as if he had to draw a portrait of him?!), Reno calmly sipped his coke and looked at the scene in a manner of someone who just watched a not too enthralling TV show, and Elena looked like she wanted to punch all three of her companions in the face.

Cloud quickly scanned titles and contents, throwing two or three books in Elenas direction, apparently not caring whether it would cause any damage to them. "There, I think you could use them."

As much as Elena was aggravated, she was also a bit confused. Cloud was an asshole, there was no arguing about it. The guy had no idea of civil behaviour at all, he also showed bad manners, and he was just plain dislikeable. And at the same time he sat there, feet on the table, and was just busily dividing their material between them. So far, he had been doing all the work, even if it was not much. And that just made her glower even harder as another book was being thrown carelessly to land in front of her.

"There, you could use that too."

Zack chuckled, scribbling some more, making Cloud finally look up from his self-assigned task to voice his confusion. "Something wrong?!"

"Just amused, that's all." Zack answered, grinning. Elena didn't want to know what kind of list he was working on now. But she knew him well enough to be certain by now that Zack was actually _interested _in that imbecile, for one reason or the other. _Why_ he was, was beyond her.

She very nearly startled when, again, a few books landed in front of her on the table with a loud thump.

"There," she heard Clouds sharp voice. "This _was_ it. Doesn't matter what _you_ are doing now, but _I'm leaving_. There is no reason to stay any longer." And with that, he had gathered the material he wanted to keep for himself, lowered at them once more, just for good measure, and left with long, quick strides.

Elena, Zack and Reno looked at each other.

Zack was the first to speak. "You know, I think I like that kid," he grinned.

"I know," Elena stated dryly. „Care to explain why?"

Zack opened his mouth to answer, but in this very moment, Cloud appeared again at their table as if out of nowhere, quickly snatched the coke that Zack had offered to him, and left for the second time - this time even faster than before and with a beet red face.

A quiet snicker was heard, for Reno was never good at keeping a straight face when he was feeling mischievous.

* * *

"Well, that's really something." Zack mused when they had been sitting together for a while, silent and reflecting. He had resumed his scribbling as soon as he had known for sure that Cloud was gone for good this time. When he was finished, he skimmed through his work and chuckled, shaking his head. Then he grinned at his two friends. "I _really_ like that kid." 

"Yeah, you made that quite clear," Reno answered indifferently, then swallowed the last unzes of his coke.

"You know, I think he's interesting. A strange form of being interesting, I admit, but nothing that couldn't be fixed. And he's just so _cute_!"

"Don't you think you should tell him that you're bisexual before you go on with 'getting to know' him?" Elena was skeptic.

"Er... no. I think it might be better if he first gets to realize what a great guy I am. Once he has realized that he can't resist a temptation like me anyway, everything will become a lot easier," Zack explained chattily.

"Great, he has gone nuts, that bigheaded idiot," Elena sighed. "Reno, that's your fault."

"I don't think he has to tell Cloud that he likes boys, too," Reno told Elena, choosing to just ignore her comment entirely. "You know him. He can't restrain himelf. He will start to hit on our shorty before you can spell his name. That will be quite a show, I'm sure. Can't wait to see the scenes we'll get to witness! I hope it'll contain some slaps in the face." He tried to hide his amusement behind his tin can, but failed miserably.

Zack pouted. "You'll see. Once me and Cloud became best friends, it's me who will be laughing. _There_."

* * *

_There's not really something to say, only that I won't take any responsibility for my mistakes. Blame my non-existent beta reader, if you have to blame someone. :) _


	4. Chapter 4

_This chapter took me a bit longer than I have thought; well, I had a lot of studying to do lately, so I rushed to get it ready as soon as I had time again. Anyway, here it is. Characters not mine, mistakes are._

* * *

Friday was followed by the weekend, so that Cloud had had some time to recover from his encounters with Elena and her crazy friends and able to relax a bit, although he had been working on his history task most of it. Not that it was really difficult. All he was doing for a start was to read and memorize. Memorizing he could do, but it was talking in front of the class that made this whole thing most disturbing. He didn't know yet whether or not he could do that, and it wasn't helping that all the other kids had to do it, too. He almost hoped that he and Elena would be chosen first to give their presentation; then it would soon be over. 

But it wasn't only that. It was the fact that, before being able to close this matter, he would have to meet with Elena again at least once or twice. Even if they had divided the work between them now, it was still necessary to decide in which order the different parts were to be read out, they had to look through each others writings to make sure they didn't contradict each other and that nothing was repeated; and once that was done, they needed to work on proper connections between their papers in case they would switch very often.

And the handout they too would have to write and design together. It was gonna be difficult. At least with Elena. And Cloud had the horrible feeling that the two guys probably would be around as well. With Reno he didn't have too much of a problem, but Zack?!

Zack freaked him out, and he didn't even know why. Maybe it really was just his outgoing nature. The problem about it was that he actually had begun to seem to Cloud like he maybe was a really nice guy; after all, he had been open-minded towards him despite of his not-too-friendliness, and that was more than most of the other kids were ready to do. Cloud had to stop that, somehow. _Anything_ to stop Zack from being so... _interested_ in him. Well, a few days of treating somebody like shit had so far always worked. It would work with Zack, too, even if his tactic had shown little to no effects so far. Well, he just would have to put more than just his ususal half-hearted effort in it, then.

Cloud sighed and decided to return to the here and know. He could worry later. Right now he was way too tired, which could be one of the side-effects of the still boiling heat. And people were always acting so bemused if he told them why he hated summer. Well, that was _if_ he actually told them. He couldn't really remember when he had told somebody anything really significant about himself the last time. Damn, again he was thinking too much.

Balancing his tray on one hand and clutching a book to his chest with the other, Cloud glanced nervously around the cafeteria. He had known before that it would be a bad idea to come here. He didn't only hate summer, he hated crowds, too. And there was never a more crowded place at school than the cafeteria at lunchtime.

Maybe he could still abandon the idea of eating here and make a plan on how to escape from this place without anybody noticing. Hell, why was he here at all?! Oh, yeah... he was damn hungry. With oversleeping today and having no time to eat breakfast or even take something edible with him, he had been practically starving during the first periods. No, if he didn't want to have to think about food the rest of the day, he had to go through this.

If he couldn't just sneak out with his tray and sit somewhere else. And with that he didn't mean the outside area of the cafeteria which he could observe from here through the glass front covering one wall entirely, where students sat laughing and joking underneath the trees. If possible, it was even more stuffed there, and in addition, far to hot for his taste.

How sad that he couldn't just smuggle his food into the library. Cloud knew it was a more than silly idea which said a lot about how he _wasn't_ as grown-up as he tried to appear. But just in these moments of indecision some particularly large groups of seniors and juniors streamed into the cafeteria and around him as they went past. And they were making a _lot_ of noise. Plus, they were invading his personal space way too much.

That was the last drop it took. Cloud turned to leave.

But first, it was kinda difficult to get out of the cafeteria when about two hundred people were just trying to get _in_(at least it looked like they were that much), and secondly, he apparently had overestimated the brains of some of the older students, which he realized when, at that same moment he turned around, some bulky blockhead bumped right into him, throwing him off balance.

"_You damn_...," Cloud hissed as he very nearly hit the floor. He already saw himself sprawled face down on the ground, with the contents of his lunch tray thrown around him in a fifteen-feet-radius, and sparks of panic rushed through him, making every nerve tingle in distress.

Thankfully, he managed to regain his balance before he had to hide himself from the rest of the school for half a year, even managing to _not_ drop his tray. After several moments he had to take to recover from his shock, wide-eyed and breathing heavily from the moment of sheer panic, he looked around to find that asshole who very nearly knocked him over to tell him exactly what he thought of him.

Okay, so maybe he was quite small, but damn, he couldn't be that much out of the normal field of vision that people just _overlooked_ him. He growled dangerously under his breath. Oh, he would _so_...

But the guy was nowhere to be seen, having disappeared among the groups. What a dork.

Well, so much for his plans of just leaving the cafeteria, Cloud thought gloomily. Even if nothing really had happened, he was well aware that his nearly-accident had attracted the attention of quite a few of the students around them. Okay, so most of them had lost interest when they saw that there wasn't anything more to it, perhaps were even disappointed that there was no one to laugh at after all, and resumed talking with their friends.

But there was one pair of eyes which didn't leave him as quickly, but still stared at him through a gap in the several rows of eating and talking students that separated them.

And that was the second time when Cloud saw Zack. Only this time, Elena's friend was sitting at a long table along with quite a couple of guys and... _girls_. A lot of girls, actually. Girls with ridiculously high voices, which could be even heard near the door where he was standing. Girls who wore pastel-colored clothes, girls who chatted with each other, the boys and with Zack - well, at least they tried to.

But Zack didn't pay attention to anyone at his table at the moment, because he was too busy staring at Cloud. And as long as he did that, Cloud couldn't just walk out the doors, because he had the strange, but horrible feeling that Zack would come after him if he did that. Why, he didn't know. But he also didn't know why Zack was looking him over like that - _again_. He shifted uneasily, not knowing what to do. Maybe hide somewhere inbetween the crowds and wait until Zack was busy with his own private life again, and _then_ sneak out of here. Yeah, maybe he should do that.

But just now, Zack started moving, and Cloud couldn't tear his eyes away as the older boy slowly pulled something out of his shirt pocket, gaze never leaving Cloud. He blinked confusedly when he realized that it was the very same red notebook he had been scribbling in a few days ago in the library. What the... ? Cloud narrowed his eyes. What the hell was that guy up to when he was doing this?! Next was a small pen, and, still moving slowly as if he didn't want to scare away a shy cat, Zack opened the notebook, still looking at him meaningfully.

Cloud, however, didn't get any of this. He didn't get the small smirk that had formed on Zacks lips, and he sure as hell didn't get what that imbecile might be writing down now, eyes still never leaving him for more than two seconds, expression quickly changing to that of a person who was just trying to solve a really complicated math task.

It was then that Cloud came to a decision. Fine, so he would pull himself together and wouldn't just leave the cafeteria. But it didn't look as if he would even find a free chair. From what he could see, all the tables were more than full. His heart sank when he realized that there probably wouldn't be any unoccupied table all for himself like he had been hoping.

"Hey - you."

Cloud flinched. When he whirled around to see who had approached him, it was with a certain amount of jumpiness; the split-second of panic he went through earlier still had power over him. But this was nothing to the shock it gave him when he caught sight of the student who had decided to terrify him even more. Almost jumping out of his skin, he jerked back a step to stare wide-eyed at the scariest person he had ever seen.

Well, it wasn't so much the overall appearance; he had seen people like that before. It was more the first impression his mind was confronted with. Piercing, dark eyes stared down at him out of a pale face with the most horrific black and red make-up; obviously the person tried to look as frightening as possible, and that alone would have been enough for Cloud to be sure that he rather didn't want to meet this... _subject_ in the dark. The rest was black leather, metal spikes and long, dark hair, and in addition the boy – Cloud assumed that it was a boy – was considerably taller than him and looming over him in a way that made him want to run and hide for a moment before his common sense kicked in.

And then the guy opened his mouth to talk, and Cloud instinctively took another step back.

"Are you okay?"

Cloud blinked. "... W-What?," he stammered confusedly after a second of coming to terms with the sentence he had just heard.

He heard a sigh. "I saw that... crash you had, and I just wanted to ask whether you have hurt yourself. I couldn't see everything from where I sat, so I came over to make sure you are alright. Is that so difficult to understand?!"

Silence. Cloud opened and closed his mouth several times, while his conversation partner blinked at his obvious bewilderment before sighing again, this time heavier and more audible.

"Sure, okay, understand," he muttered, sounding a bit disappointed. "And here I just wanted to help. Tell me when you have learned how to speak, and then I will ask you again, alright?"

And before Cloud had enough time to gather his senses and tell him to fuck off, the strange figure turned around and shuffled back to a table at the back, where Cloud could spot more dark figures. He shuddered and decided to get back to his own business.

He cast a quick glance to the spot where he had seen Zack sitting, telling himself that it _wasn't_ due to his curiousness of how the spiky-haired lunatic would respond to the little "chat" Cloud just had with some sort of freak. To his surprise, that spot was empty. He merely shrugged; it wasn't his business, so he started to slowly move around the room. And surprisingly, he actually spotted a small table in the far corner which, by some miracle, hadn't been claimed yet. Relieved, Cloud made his way there. Maybe the lunch break wouldn't turn out to be that bad.

When he had finally reached the table, sitting down noticing that he couldn't see Zack from here, he slowly began to hope that this day would get better, and he once more realized how hungry he was. He set the book he was just reading aside to begin wolfing down his lunch, and although he knew the cafeteria food wasn't really that good, right now he didn't really care.

But Cloud couldn't enjoy his peace for long. He was about half finished with his food, whatever it was, when he startled as he heard an all too familiar snicker behind him.

"Jeez, did nobody tell you to be careful with whatever you eat here? Ah, but since your still fairly new, I guess you couldn't know." And with that, a cheerful Reno sauntered into his view, placing his tray onto his table without further ado, and seating himself across from Cloud. "Heh, and here I thought I wouldn't find a place to sit anymore. Got lucky, I guess; you're doing a good job, you know, scaring people away and all that. Nobody in their right mind would just come over and try to _sit _with you."

Cloud shot him a glare in response, and after about half a minute just watching Reno sitting there, supporting his chin in his hands and grinning at Cloud with a rather stupid expression, Cloud finally opened his mouth to say something, but Reno waved him off.

"Oh, trust me, I know exactly what you're about to say now. But since people always tell me tht I am not in my right mind, you don't have to worry; everything's fine."

Cloud closed his mouth again, unable to come up with an answer that sounded more intelligent than "...Huh?," so he left the issue unresolved. For now.

Throwing another well measured glare at Reno to let him know that he was _not at all_ willing to communicate with him, Cloud returned to his plate of food. In fact, he wasn't really sure how to deal with the situation. With normal people, he had dealt well with so far. With people who were offended when they learned that he didn't show any signs of wanting to socialize with them, people who just turned around, shaking their heads, when all they ever got as response from him (if they got any) was a glare and sometimes, if they were lucky, some harsh words. People who just weren't _interested_ to look any deeper.

But, in all his life, he so far never had to deal with people who _knew_ about his reactions and _still_ refused to give him the cold shoulder. Zack hadn't done it, but Zack was probably just plain crazy, Cloud had decided. And now Reno, who had seemed amused with him the last time they had met, but surely hadn't acted as ... unusual as his friend had.

Oh, now he had it! It was a conspiracy. It just had to be. They were trying to drive him mad. Maybe because they didn't exactly approve of how he had talked to Elena, or maybe just because they wanted to see in which ways his madness would show. Maybe... maybe they were some crazy science club members who were working on a weird project, and he was the item that was to investigate. First, they would make him lose sanity, and then they would lock him up in some dark room in a deserted part of the school to see what further reactions that would get out of him, and then they would analyze them, and God alone knew what else they had in mind. Maybe they would torture him slowly to death with their experiments, over weeks and months, and then they would dissect him, or maybe even take him apart when he was still _alive_, and then...

"Erm... hey... Cloud?"

Cloud blinked confusedly as he snapped out of his not-so-amusing thoughts, realizing that Reno must have been snapping his fingers in front of his eyes for a while now.

When he was convinced that Cloud wasn't looking directly through him anymore, Reno retrieved his arm and frowned. "You suddenly were looking so... _disturbed_. Did something happen to you today?"

"Oh, you bet," he heard a voice saying, but it wasn't Cloud's. Zack, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, set a mostly empty tray on the table, shifting the other two a bit so it fitted, then sat on a chair that he had dragged along behind him.

Reno snickered again. "Hey, escaped again?"

Zack snorted amusedly, if that wasn't impossible if you are grinning madly at the same time. "Really, that's not the question. What took you so long today? Why weren't you here earlier? You should have seen that."

Reno frowned. "Seen what?"

"How that idiot Ryan bumped into him full force." Zack chuckled quietly.

"Oh no, you're not serious! Damn, this is just great." Reno turned to Cloud, who looked like he had shrunk a little bit in his chair and was now glaring suspiciously at them over the rim of his glass.

"Hey, you didn't hurt yourself, did you?" Reno asked, concerned – which uncomfortably reminded Cloud of the scary guy who had asked him just the same only a few minutes ago. "If I only had known..."

"Nonsense, he's okay." Zack chuckled. His face brightened when he blabbered on: "I _told_ you that you should have seen that. With the force of impact the moron used, he could have sent Cloud flying through the wall if he wanted to, and everybody who saw it expected to have him lying on their table in the next moment, but then, just when I thought he would at least break his nose, he suddenly just _stood_ again, without even having spilled a drop from his _drink_! And he was holding the tray with just one hand, if I might add." Zack raised his eyebrows as he spared a rather appreciative glance at Cloud, who only shrunk a little more and narrowed his eyes, but stayed completely silent.

Only now did Zack seem to notice that Cloud was acting a little bit... _odd_. Or, to put it differently, odd in a different way than he had expected. Puzzled, he turned his head to check out the area behind Reno and himself, but couldn't see anything scary there.

"Is something bothering you?," he asked at last, but Cloud quickly shook his head, only to continue staring at them without uttering a word.

Reno sighed. "Anyway, don't you think we'll have to change a few words with that big Ryan idiot? Even if he won't understand anything if spoken in common english."

"Oh, don't worry, I already had a little talk with him," Zack responded with a glint in his eyes, cheerily munching up the last bits of his lunch.

"You had?"

"_Trust me_."

Reno raised his eyebrows. "I believe the issue is settled then. Anyway, Cloud," he turned his attention back to the sophomore, "What I wanted to ask the whole time – you don't happen to have anything planned today?" He watched confusedly, because it looked like Cloud had flinched at his voice.

Zack frowned. "You know... it's not like we'll bite you or something."

This time, there was no mistaking it – Cloud winced visibly, and Zack decided to resist the urge to add "At least not very often."

But then, seemingly gathering all his courage, Cloud sat up a bit and crossed his arms, glowering at them. "Who says I'll have to believe you?!"

"Please what?" Zack blinked, acknowleding out of the corner of his eye that Reno was turning to the side, desperately trying to stifle his laughter.

Cloud leaned forward a bit giving them a glare that would have chilled other people to the bone. "Is there any good reason you are following me around?! Tell me the truth, _dammit_!"

"You want a reason?" Reno scratched his head. "How funny of you, asking for a reason when there's clearly no one else who hangs around with you. We all know it's difficult for some people at the beginning, but that doesn't explain for any newcomer to be running around on his own like you do."

Cloud cocked his head to one side. "No?"

Zack smiled amusedly. "Wouldn't it be more common in your situation to have at least one friendly soul to show you around and answer questions and such? At this school, I have never seen new people that weren't surrounded by some eager students to help them settle in – apart from you. Sometimes even teachers take care of that. We didn't have a single exchange student in the three years that I have been here that didn't get two or three "babysitters" assigned to them. Didn't that happen to you, too?"

"Had some." Cloud stared at the ceiling and tried to appear bored.

Zack's turned into a grin. "I _knew_ it!," he exclaimed happily. "Made them run away from you on the very first day, haven't you?!"

The blonde across him tensed, leaning back as far as he could. "What exactly does it concern _you_, huh?," he asked, reaching for his glass to take a sip from his milk shake, mostly to try and hide behind the drinking vessel.

"Oh, nothing much, really." Partly to hide his amused expression, Zack stared at his empty tray for a while, and then eyed Reno's, who quickly snatched it closer to him. "But maybe it is of interest to you that we're your new accompany now?" He wasn't at all surprised when he heard Cloud choke on the fluid - so much he knew of him now that he was aware of how unwelcome his decision was.

Reno stood up, taking Clouds drink from him and tried to pat his back compassionately, but his hand got pushed away with a force that was surprising considering Cloud's size and build.

Cloud hiccuped once or twice, doing his best to keep his intimidating expression as best as possible, which made Reno shake his head and greatly amused Zack.

"And who exactly," Cloud coughed, "assigned you to me?" He was feeling miserable. He knew exactly that, if these two idiots really decided to play his "babysitters", as Zack had put it, there would be one hell of work to do to convince them otherwise. Damn, this wouldn't be easy.

Zack, in the meanwhile, answered his question with a happy "Why, we did, of course," and Cloud coughed some more. "Don't suffocate on us here," Zack added, concerned and tempted to reach over do try what Reno just did, but knowing better than to actually do it.

"That's _my_ decision, don't you think?!" Defiantly, Cloud grabbed his milk shake back from Reno, hoping that he managed to choke again on it, and maybe this time so hard, that... "Maybe it's even better if I die right _here_. Before you two get more opportunity to act out whatever evil plans you have."

"Evil plans?" Reno and Zack looked at each other, and Reno couldn't help but snicker. "Zack, you know what? You were right – as always. Your little project here is indeed a lot of fun."

It was then that they heard a crash and almost at the same time the surprised yells of several students, but when they hastily turned to see what Cloud had done _now_, he was gone. His glass along with the rest of it's contents was lying on the floor as well as his chair; and a few feet away from them a youth, who had apparently been in Clouds way, just scrambled back to his feet with a rather stupid expression in his face.

The two boys blinked when they recognized Ryan, who was quickly surrounded by his peers now, questioning him about "what the hell had happened". For a while, they were silent.

After clearing his throat a few times, Reno spoke up first. "Ryan will never live this down. Just imagine, for a football player to be knocked off balance by a tiny kid. Somehow, it was just the kind of revenge I wanted to see."

Zack only nodded dumbly, but quickly recovered to prove that he had made some observations as well. "That kid's damn fast," he told Reno, reaching for his notebook. "And he forgot a schoolbook." A slightly evil smile found it's way to Zacks lips. "Well, so at least he can't complain if I see him again today."

* * *

_There, another part done. Don't know how long it will take for the next one to be uploaded, since I'll be on holidays soon. We'll see._


End file.
